Hall of Fame vocalist, Larnelle Harris, was named Orchestra Kentucky’s 2017 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts and Humanities. Harris joins a distinguished list of performers and singers such as award-winning singer/songwriter Neil Sedaka, Peter Tork of the Monkees, and Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner, Paul Williams. Orchestra Kentucky director, Jeff Reed, said Harris was the perfect choice for the honor.

“Larnelle is most deserving of our Lifetime Achievement in the Arts and Humanities award,” says Reed, who founded Orchestra Kentucky in 2000. “He has had a major impact on gospel music worldwide, which has brought great honor to Bowling Green, his adopted hometown. So far, I have had the unique opportunity of working with Larnelle, and three different orchestras, on nine different occasions. Not only is he an incredible artist, but he is a wonderful person, whom I’m proud to call my friend.”

Harris has just released one of two new songs featured on his new compilation CD, Disturb Us, Lord: Songs about the Cross. The title song, “Disturb Us, Lord,” was written by award-winning songwriters Dave Clark, Tony Wood, and Lee Black. The song has just been released to all digital platforms, and a music video has also been produced and distributed to both television networks and online video channels. “Disturb Us, Lord” has also been made into a choral arrangement available exclusively through Lillenas Publishing Company (http://www.lillenas.com).

The compilation project of ten songs also features some of Harris’ previous recordings with themes that are centered around the crucifixion of Jesus such as “I Will Glory in the Cross,” “Much Too High a Price,” “Look at His Glorious Cross,” plus a new praise and worship song written by Harris, Clark and Nick Robertson called “Fan it into Flame.”

In addition to his many accolades, including four Hall of Fame inductions and five Grammy Awards, Harris was given the Kentucky Governor’s Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts in 2014, the first Christian vocalist to receive the honor.

About Orchestra Kentucky:

Founded in 2000 by Jeffrey Reed and Michael Thurman, Orchestra Kentucky brings the best in classical and popular music to South Central Kentucky. From The Beatles to Beethoven, the region’s only professional orchestra entertains and enriches audiences of all ages and tastes. In its short existence, Orchestra Kentucky has produced over 200 concerts, touching the lives of over 400,000 people. With a budget exceeding one million dollars, Orchestra Kentucky is making a significant social, educational, emotional, and creative impact on the South Central Kentucky region. Orchestra Kentucky remains deeply involved in surrounding schools with high-quality music education programs, proven to elevate test scores and the lives of students. A partnership with Western Kentucky University encourages the future development of youth through the Bowling Green Youth Orchestra. An outreach program entitled, Arts Access for All, provides access to concerts for severely under-funded music programs, the neglected elderly, and under-served families. Orchestra Kentucky’s community engagement activities get music into civic clubs, churches, retirement homes, and many other places. For more information, visit www.OrchestraKentucky.com.

About Larnelle Harris: Admired by fans and peers alike for his majestic tenor voice, Larnelle Harris has become the personification of talent and integrity in a career that spans over five decades. He is the only person in history to be a member of three distinct hall of fame organizations: the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, Kentucky Music Hall of Fame and the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame. He was twice inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, both as a solo artist and as part of the Gaither Vocal Band. He has achieved nineteen #1 radio singles and countless top 10 hits. Harris was the first Christian artist to perform inside the Kremlin after the fall of the Soviet Union. He is one of a handful of celebrities to receive the Ad Council's Silver Bell Award for Distinguished Public Service in recognition of his song "Mighty Spirit" as the theme song for the longest-running Public Service Announcement in television history. He recently performed for the National Day of Prayer event in Washington D.C., at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall, and sang for a gathering of U.N. Ambassadors in our nation’s capitol. Harris and his wife of 44 years, Cynthia (a.k.a. Mitzy), reside in Louisville, Kentucky. For more information, visit www.Larnelle.com.